Tablet Art?

[KyouXcomics]

I can draw, just give me a pen and paper, or a mouse and paint program, but for some reason put a stylist in my hand and my drawings look well pathetic. can anyone give me any pointers or advise? I really want to use the tablet I spent alot of money on for my comics.

[Troll]

I think this Help Section is for SJ issues only.

[YakkitySax]

Moving this to the right forum for you where you'll get better answers than this one.

[Nymine]

Practice. No matter how horrible it looks, keep practicing. Yes, the function is similar to pen/pencil to paper but it is very very different, from how fatty the stylus is to the fact that you now have an invisible fence of where you can and can't draw, even to delay of stroke to appearance on screen. Just as you had to practice to get good with a pencil or that alien piece of hardware called a mouse, you'll have to do the same with a tablet to get anything remotely decent out of it. Just don't get fed up that you don't get a masterpiece the first time you sit down with it.

[Asj]

I find that it helps to draw with quick strokes, or zoom in to about 300%. Some tablets work better than others, as well (I got an Intuos4 awhile ago and it draws much better than my old Graphire did). Also, I usually sketch a picture on paper, then scan and trace over it in Photoshop.

[mossi-mo]

I can draw, just give me a pen and paper, or a mouse and paint program, but for some reason put a stylist in my hand and my drawings look well pathetic. can anyone give me any pointers or advise? I really want to use the tablet I spent alot of money on for my comics.

It takes a long time to train your mind to work with the setup. It seems easier to draw with a mouse because you have always used a mouse in the same way. With a mouse, you look forward and your palm faces down. Unfortunately, writing in the real world doesn't work like that. For most of your life when you write, you've watched the ink/graphite/whatever being transferred directly from your pen onto the paper. When it comes to tablets, you work with your pen in one place, but watch the ink on the screen. It's a big mental block and a very common problem.

The only way to get out of that block is to practice and find a position/setting that works best for you. It can take anywhere from days to months for your digital work to get on the same level as your traditional work, but keep with it.

[Rivana]

I can draw, just give me a pen and paper, or a mouse and paint program, but for some reason put a stylist in my hand and my drawings look well pathetic. can anyone give me any pointers or advise? I really want to use the tablet I spent alot of money on for my comics.

I have been in your shoes but I gotta ask. Does your drawing/strokes kinda look like this?

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/ ... uemina.jpg

That's my first digital drawing and yeah it really sucked compared to my traditional sketches at the time.

Because if that is the case, you probably just need to have the proper brush settings so your tablet would feel more like traditional media (Stuff like pen pressure, flow/opacity are important. I am also using photoshop so this would depend on the art tool that you use. Some good pencil type brushes are here: http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&secti ... ncil+brush )

Putting a sheet of paper over your tablet also helps. Lastly, if you have trouble with the hand/eye coordination when you draw on your tablet while your eyes are glued to the monitor, this is something that you will get better at with practice.

Hope that helps.

[nosoline]

I JUST HATED tablets before... I couldn't just draw on it... I was hopeless... but my job at the time required that I could do paperless drawings, so I had to learn it... Took me like 3 months to get it, but I managed to get used to...
It's just about practice... You have to draw everyday a little bit on the tablet...
That worked for me...

You can start with sketchy strokes, doing rough kinda drawings until you get the grip of it...

The tablet you are using makes all the difference as well... Wacom are the best ones...

Another thing that might help is to reduce the active area of the tablet... so you don't have to move your hands too much... just the fingers...
I use mine with an area of a match box...

My webcomic is drawn paperless, I use no paper on it.. just the tablet... It's not so bad, I guess...

Hope that helps...

[eishiya]

Another thing that might help is to reduce the active area of the tablet... so you don't have to move your hands too much... just the fingers...
I use mine with an area of a match box...

That only works if you're naturally a finger-drawer. They make large tablets for a reason, you know xP Some people naturally draw with their wrist, or their elbow, or even their whole arm. They can't work with a small working area. The advice you gave worked for you, and might work for finger-drawers, but it's not good for everyone.

[nosoline]

Another thing that might help is to reduce the active area of the tablet... so you don't have to move your hands too much... just the fingers...
I use mine with an area of a match box...

That only works if you're naturally a finger-drawer. They make large tablets for a reason, you know xP Some people naturally draw with their wrist, or their elbow, or even their whole arm. They can't work with a small working area. The advice you gave worked for you, and might work for finger-drawers, but it's not good for everyone.

Well... You are right, but I just gave my opinion on what might help... not saying what is right or wrong...
Trying costs nothing... XP